by Mary Harrsch
I am deeply inspired by these former USAID workers who refused to let critical humanitarian work die when the Trump administration gutted their agency. After being fired, they created Project Resource Optimization and have already raised $110 million in private funding to keep 81 vital health and humanitarian projects running—projects estimated to serve over 40 million people, many children under five.
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| Project Resource Optimization is continuing to fund the mobile clinics of the Alliance for International Medical Action (Alima) to provide maternity services and vital childhood vaccines. Photograph: Alima |
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/oct/03/we-called-ourselves-the-lifeboat-crew-how-fired-usaid-workers-launched-a-rescue-project-to-save-as-many-babies-as-we-can
Although these people lost their jobs under this cruel authoritarian regime, they didn't lose their commitment to the vulnerable communities they served. They rolled up their sleeves and found another way forward!
In the face of an administration that has deliberately dismantled institutions built to help the world's most vulnerable, these workers have shown us what true dedication looks like. Their resourcefulness and refusal to abandon their mission remind us that individuals can step up and make a difference, even when our own government fails to recognize our responsibility to share our nation's wealth with those less fortunate, rather than serving the interests of billionaires and megacorporations at home.
We all need to embrace this kind of resilience and moral courage to forge our way forward and leave the cruelties of political priorities aimed at concentrating power and wealth behind!
